Use a Sai to Block a Staff Strike

Video Transcript

"Hi, my name is Michael Lewis with Yeshua Ryu Martial Arts on behalf of Expert Village. We're here today to cover the sai. Now we're covering a block, a counter using a thrust. Again, if he comes with a down strike, I'm going to use my first position as a block from here again keeping it tight up against my arm. This weapon here on this side will flip out so I can move in and actually use as a thrust. Two ways I can gain a thrust is using the long stem to be able to thrust into the throat or into the body. The second way is using the short stem, which is used the typical way - into the throat. From here, I would bring my hand up off into the weapon, push up against his body to be able to bring my weapon back out. If you stab with the side, you're going to have a harder time trying to pull your weapon back out. So, use your other hand to brace against the body and snap your sai back out. From a second position flipped out here as a block, he comes with a down strike and I hook in with the hook of the sai to hook in here and use it as a thrust using the long stem or short stem. From here, to be able to pull my weapon back out, I'm going to have to take this hand to actually retract it back out and push, but that's not very smart or practical. So what I do from here is I take and actually push up against his weapon and then just push him out altogether. That way, you have to use a little bit of root force when you're trying to pull your weapon back out. Keep in mind, these are very, very dull. Most of the time when you buy your sais, they come very, very dull. You can sharpen your sais, but if you're practicing with someone else, I highly recommend that you keep them dull for practice sake. But it's always nice to have a set of sais around that are sharpened so that you can use in stabbing into different materials so that you can get used to stabbing in and pulling out your weapon."